Simple Tips for Saving Water

Are you doing everything you can to preserve water? You may be thinking to yourself, "Sure, I only water the grass on my assigned day and wash dishes when the machine is full." But if you run the water while brushing your teeth, flush tissue and bugs down the toilet instead of throwing them in the trash, and still have an old toilet in operation in your home, you are actually part of the problem.

Did you know that if you have a toilet from 1994 or before, it can use as much as seven gallons for a single flush? That’s a lot compared to today’s 1.6-gallon per flush (gfp) toilets -- the maximum allowable flush volume by law. Older toilets can also waste water through leaks, which are often undetectable. Worn rubber flappers degrade and warp and can leak up to 200 gallons of water a day. You can check for leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank. If the coloring has trickled into the bowl over the course of 15 minutes, you’ve got a leak. (If you try this test, don’t leave the food coloring in the tank more than 15 minutes or it could permanently stain your fixture.)

A relatively inexpensive way to conserve is to purchase a new low-consumption toilet. The American Standard FloWise toilet was the first gravity-fed toilet to reduce water consumption by more than 20 percent from 1.6-gallons to a 1.28-gallon flow rate. Many people are afraid to let go of their old water-guzzling toilets because they think the newer low-flow models don’t work. But the FloWise can deliver high-efficiency performance because it uses American Standard’s proprietary Champion 4 flushing technology, which forces the water into the bowl three times faster than a standard toilet. The FloWise gets a lot of power out of less water.

Now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is helping consumers choose the right products by marking them with the new WaterSense label. WaterSense works much like the ENERGY STAR program for appliances. By prominently designating products and services that conserve water and perform as intended, the labeling program makes it easy for consumers to identify and select high-performance water-efficient products for their homes.

American Standard’s FloWise toilet carries the WaterSense label. FloWise uses 1.28 gpf, so it qualifies as a “high-efficiency toilet,” or an HET. To earn the WaterSense label, a toilet must use only 1.28 gpf. American Standard is a partner in the EPA’s program to promote water efficiency and market efficient products, programs and practices.

Make Easy Changes

According to an EPA expert on water conservation, if there’s one change homeowners can do, it is to get rid of every rain head in their showers because it is the single greatest water waster in American bathrooms today.

The good news is that fixture manufacturers are offering new showerhead technology to solve the problem without compromising on performance. Replacing showerheads is also a simple and quick change. The new American Standard FloWise showerheads, for example, have a small turbine-like mechanism that spins the water stream through the head, creating an energizing spray just like the standard 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm) showerheads.

The best part is that these new showerheads use only 1.5 gpm -- that’s 40 percent less than the current code requirements for showerheads without sacrificing performance.

Get Smart

Anyone can check the Internet and local Department of Natural Resources for specific information about how to conserve water. The EPA also helps consumers locate their local watershed information and provides water conservation tips.

Courtesy of ARAcontent